


Perfectly intertwined

by dragonesdepapel



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Redeemed Catra, because i could basically, can i tag this first dates? like it's not said but you that's what's really happening, i'll be honest i just want to tag all the fluff stuff, this fandom has just started and it's already so full of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-25 16:12:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonesdepapel/pseuds/dragonesdepapel
Summary: For her first official day at Bright Moon, Adora dragged Catra to a festival.





	Perfectly intertwined

For her first official day at Bright Moon, Adora dragged Catra to a festival.

“You are going to love it, you’ll see.”

Spending all day surrounded by strangers wasn’t exactly Catra’s idea of fun, but she let herself be pulled along. At least the princess and her sidekick had stayed in the castle. They hadn't looked too happy to watch them leave. Catra could only imagine what Adora had had to promise in exchange for it. Seriously, sometimes it looked like they didn’t remember how to function without Adora around to tell them what to do. Like lost puppies or astray leeches.

Adora had briefed her on the way there. “Festivals are celebrations. Everyone gets together and helps throw them. Glimmer says that different communities have different festivals, to celebrate different things. What's important for some people might not be for others.”

The village was small, probably the smallest Catra had been in so far. There were kids running around and almost every surface was covered in flowers. From time to time she would catch a sparkle in the corner of her eye and she would turn, but it always turned out to be the sun reflecting in a million glass wind chimes.

“Ok, the first thing we have to do is get some food.”

“Food?”

“Trust me, ok?”

Grabbing her hand, Adora lead her to a small tent. An old guy handed each of them them a bowl.

Catra eyed it suspiciously. “Are you sure you can eat this?”

Meals on the Fright Zone had never been an exciting affair. Even after hours of relentless training, eating was perfunctory at best. A way to appease an empty stomach. Sure, eating was better than not eating, but the food was bland and unassuming. It certainly had never been triangle shaped and bright red, like the thing Adora was holding in her hand now.

Adora took a bite, making a show of chewing on it. “See? Now you try.”

Catra inspected her bow, finally settling on something round and pale. Shrugging, she took it in all in one bite.

Oh.

Wow.

She could definitely see why Adora liked this. She quickly tried another one, making sure she took time to appreciate the flavor this time. Because, unlike the food back at the Horde, this thing had it. Lots of it.

“You had never had food outside of the Fright Zone?”

“I always had more important things to do than to take a lunch break,” Catra said around mouthful.

Soon, she had nothing left. Adora was quick to point them in the direction of a large table. Half the village seemed to be seated at it. It was filled with what Catra could only guess was dishes with more food.

They took two chairs near the end of it. Adora ate just as much as she did, but Catra noticed that more and more dishes got pushed in their direction all the time. She made sure to take a bite of everything she could get her hands on.

Once they were satisfied, they joined a group of people who were weaving flowers into circlets. Adora immediately launched herself onto the task. She gathered the different kinds of plants into small piles and, after watching the other's actions attentively, she started copying them.

Catra didn’t know where to start, and she quickly found herself lost in watching Adora work. She would carefully compare every flower before adding it. She nodded to herself after each choice, and she huffed when she got it wrong and had to undo part of her efforts.

Someone touched Catra’s legs, startling her. She turned, showing her teeth, but her opponent was out of sight. Another tap. She looked down and found a small kid sitting next to her. She begrudgingly set back down.

“Everything ok?” Asked Adora, not really looking away from her work. Catra grumbled an affirmative, then turned back to the kid. She raised her eyebrows in question.

“You start with the big ones.”

Catra grabbed the twine she was being offered. Slowly, the kid walked her through the process. She wasn’t as good at it as Adora. Some of her flowers kept falling no matter what she did. But the kid always took it away from her hands before she could shred it to pieces in frustration, and then helped her put it back together.

“I don’t get it,” Catra whispered after a few minutes. “What’s the point?”

“They symbolize our connection to nature, and it’s a good way for everyone to contribute to the celebration.”

“If you say so, kid.”

“Aha!” exclaimed Adora, victorious. She presented her circlet to Catra. “Do you like it?”

“You should forget about that sword of yours, this is your true fated calling.”

“Shut up,” she said pushing her. But she was smiling proudly. “Show me yours!”

Catra held hers up. A couple of leaves fell to the floor, but it held on for the most part. It wasn't as elaborated as Adora’s, and she could see a few gaps that weren’t supposed to be there, but she thought it looked ok.

“It’s beautiful! Can I have it?”

“You want both?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous. I made this one for you!”

She leaned forward to put it on top of Catra’s head. Her ears twitched, but it stayed in place. "Adora,” she whined, “I look dumb.”

“No, you don’t. You look adorable.”

“That’s the same thing.” She crossed her arms.

Adora sighed. “Ok, you don’t have to wear it. But it is yours.”

She reached forward, but Catra caught her by the wrist. “No, leave it.”

“You sure? You don’t have to.”

“Yeah, I mean, nothing can't really make me look bad anyway.”

Adora bounced in place from the excitement. “Great!”

She stilled when Catra got close and carefully set hers on her head. It took her a second to figure out what to do with the ponytail. She took a step back, admiring her work. 

“Now we both look dumb together.”

Adora laughed. “Whatever you say.”

“So, what’s next?”

Adora smirked. “You are going to like this one.”

They walked to a huge tree where most of the kids were gathered. The floor was covered in some kind of thick, purple substance. Adora handed her a stick.

“See that those things hanging by the branches?”

“Sure.”

“You have to go beat them up.”

“Seriously?”

“Have fun!”

Adora pushed her into the crowd of kids. Some of them were taking the things out on their own, others were gathered in groups. A few where laying on the ground, playing with the purple pulp. Catra chose her target. It was tougher than it looked and it took her a couple of hits for it to break, releasing its purple guts to the ground. Adora joined her a little after and they both took care of the higher branches that most kids couldn’t reach.

“This tree is the oldest one in the area. Every year they break its fruits so the seeds,” Adora picked up some of the purple goop and showed it to Catra,” can spread. They leave the breaking to the kids, but at the end of the day everyone has to walk by its shadow to help it extent its reach. And that means,” she continued, drawing her hand back, “that goop fights are actually encouraged here.”

The goop hit Catra right next to her eye. She smiled, showing her fangs. “Oh, you are on.”

She jumped back, putting some distance between them. Luckily, the substance had already spread far enough that she could land in a place away from the children. Another shot got her on the chest.

“Look at that, Catra, you are getting predictable.”

She retaliated by shooting straight for her forehead. Adora dodged, but the next one landed on her cheek.

Soon they were both covered in purple from head to toe. It didn’t stop Catra, of course. She waited for an opening and then lunged at her, throwing both of them to the floor. Adora landed on her back, and Catra was quick to sweep her hand on the ground to gather more pulp and then push it to Adora’s collarbone. Adora laughed and called her a cheater, but she was quick to flip their positions. She used her legs to immobilize Catra's arms and then she was free to dump even more goo on her face.

“Ok, now you really do look ridiculous,” she laughed, looking at her from above.

Catra seized her distraction and pushed her off, taking the advantage position again.

“I give up, I give up,” said Adora, still laughing.

She looked ridiculous too. Her ponytail was low on the back of her head now, and blonde was stained with purple. The goo was very sticky, and some hair was glued to her face. Catra carefully pulled it out. Some of the pulp had already dried on Adora’s skin, and it probably wouldn’t come out until after she took a shower.

Adora stayed still, waiting for Catra to be done. Once she had freed all the hair, Catra let her go. She extended her hand, and Adora took it. She used their joined hands to pull her over by the tree again. She had stashed their circlets in one of the higher branches soon after the fight had begun. She climbed the tree to retrieve them, then set them back on their heads. Adora wanted them to wear those things? Well, she could wear them while covered in purple goop too.

She had gone very quiet, smiling softly at Catra.

“C’mon loser, what now?”

They were handed a blanket, and they did their best to clean themselves with it. After that, everyone gathered on the center of the village. The sun was starting to go down and some of the elders took care to lit up torches around the group. Adora shivered from where she was sitting next to Catra. Her jacket had been completely covered in goop and she had decided to take it off.

“Are you sure you don’t want it back?”

Adora shook her head. “It’s damp.”

She rolled her eyes. “How are you always cold?”

Adora stuck her tongue out. “I’m not, you are the one who’s always too hot.”

Catra smirked. “I know.”

Adora laughed. She raised her hand and Catra thought she was going hit her playfully on the side. Instead, Adora wrapped it around Catra’s arm, drawing her closer. “Better,” she announced.

They had to keep quiet after that. A woman stepped in front of the crowd. She told the story of the village, how their ancestors had settled at the base of the tree after a long trip, looking for food and shade. Adora was hanging on her every word. Back in the Horde, she had always paid attention to her senior officers. But this was different. In the Fright Zone, Adora was always tense. Even when their orders were to stay still, she radiated enough nervous energy to power up a small elemental gem.

Now, however, she seemed perfectly at ease. She had for most of the day, actually. She had waited patiently until Catra had had her share of every activity. She had moved around these people like she was one them. She didn’t need to ask for permission. She didn’t need to act like she had everything under control.

Her ears stayed trained on the woman’s words, but she let herself look at Adora. She felt warm and soft where she was pressed up against Catra, and her face reflected that. Giving in, Catra let herself try to relax, like Adora did, and she rested her head on her shoulder. Adora didn’t look at her, but she moved to give Catra a more comfortable angle.

The woman finished her story, but they stayed there, side by side, until most of the people had stood up and walked away.

“Hey,” Adora said quietly, nudging her shoulder. “Thanks for doing this. I know you went along with it more for my benefit than yours.

Catra looked up at Adora, but she wasn’t meeting her eyes.

“I promise we’ll find fun things for you to do here, ok? Even if we have to travel through every kingdom looking for them.”

“Is that what you are worried about? Me getting bored?”

Adora had started playing with the edge of her sleeves, but she raised her hand now. She lightly touched the still fresh scar on Catra’s face. The one she had gotten by standing between Hordak and her. She did one dumb thing in her entire life, and now she would probably have to wear it for the rest of it. 

“You’ve sacrificed so much. I just want you to be happy, you know that, right?”

Catra grabbed her hand, pulling them away from her face. She held on tight. “Is this about Shadow Weaver’s messed up raising methods?”

“No.” She hesitated. “Yes. It’s about everything, Catra. All I’ve ever brought you is pain.”

“Look, you have to forget about everything I've said before, ok? I was angry, and hurt and lost. It was never your fault. You were just a child, Adora.”

“But I never saw it, Catra! I hurt you, so many times, and I didn’t even know it. You were a child too and you still saw what the Horde was doing to us.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s only because I’m so smart.” Adora didn’t smile. She sighed. “I also knew that what we were doing was wrong, but I still did it anyway. Even after you showed me the way out, Adora.”

“But-”

“No,” Catra interrupted her. “I did. We both made mistakes. We both hurt each other, and other people too. You can’t save me, Adora, only I can do that.”

Adora was quiet for a few seconds. “Haven’t you done it already?”

“I’d like to think I did.”

She drew in closer and kissed her. Half of her expected Adora to push her away. But then again, Adora had spent all day trying to get her to stop listening to that part of herself. So she did.

When she pulled back to look at Adora’s smile, her ears twitched.

“Adora?”

“Yes, Catra?”

“Tell me those aren’t your friends who I heard hiding behind those bushes.”

Adora leaned to her side to look over Catra’s shoulder. She quickly drew back to her previous position.

“Just kiss me again, it might make them go away.”

Now that was a plan that could get Catra on board.

**Author's Note:**

> I was seconds away from posting when I realized I had forgotten to write a whole other scene (it was about dancing, how could I forget about something like that???) I might come back and add it later but I'm done with the computer for today. (Yes, I'm putting this here so I don't just forget about it _again_ )


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